The Twang

Blending expansive guitar textures and raw emotional drive drawn from Brit-pop with an understated rhythmic undercurrent suited to dancefloors, the Twang built a following across Britain through early club performances and favorable coverage in the music press. The group launched its recording career in 2007 via the number-one album Love It When I Feel Like This and later sharpened its approach across the releases 10:20, Neontwang, and If Confronted Just Go Mad.

Formed in Birmingham in 2004 under the name Neon Twang, the lineup features twin frontmen Phil Etheridge and Martin Saunders alongside bassist Jon Watkin, guitarist Stu Hartland, and drummer Matthew Clinton. Drawing influence from guitar-driven acts including Oasis and the Streets as well as Madchester outfits like Happy Mondays, the musicians positioned Neon Twang as a deliberate counterpoint to the dominant dance sounds of the period, cultivating a style of direct, melody-focused rock paired with an unaffected attitude. Etheridge explained the outlook to one interviewer with the remark, "I ain't going to sing about rivers, man. I don't live by a river. I live by a canal and there's bikes in it."

The band also developed a reputation for boisterous shows, and after crowd disturbances grew more frequent the members shortened the name to the Twang to distance themselves from that aspect of their image. Their live reputation strengthened, and in autumn 2006 New Musical Express writer James Jam together with Radio One DJ Edith Bowman attended a Birmingham performance; both were strongly impressed, leading Jam to publish an extensive feature while Bowman began airing the group’s demo recordings. By year’s end a bidding war had erupted, culminating in a contract with B-Unique Recordings, the label home to the Kaiser Chiefs and Primal Scream.

The Twang issued its debut single, “Wide Awake,” in March 2007, followed weeks later by “Either Way.” Both tracks reached the British Top 20, and the full-length Love It When I Feel Like This appeared in early June. In 2008 the musicians recruited Youth, formerly of Killing Joke, to produce their next studio album, Jewellery Quarter. Titled after the Birmingham district where the band members then lived, the record entered the U.K. Top 20 in 2009, led by the single “Barney Rubble.” In 2010 the group began extended collaboration with longtime associate and producer Jon “Simmo” Simcox, and in 2011 announced the limited-edition EP Guapa, which sold out its pressing of 1,000 copies almost at once.

Near the close of 2012 the band delivered its third album, 10:20, self-funded and tracked in its own studio; the set represented its boldest work to date and included a version of Durutti Column’s “Tomorrow.” In March 2014 the Twang revisited its original moniker for the title of its fourth album, Neontwang, and augmented the touring lineup with guitarist Tommy Greaves, previously of Wide Eyed. May 2017 saw the group celebrate the tenth anniversary of Love It When I Feel Like This by staging a U.K. tour that presented the album complete at every date. Later that year the Twang issued two compilations: the career overview Either Way, It’s the Best of the Twang and the rarities collection Subscription.

For its fifth studio effort, If Confronted Just Go Mad, the band incorporated two additional female vocalists and enlisted Mint Royale for mixing duties. Introduced by the groove-oriented single “Everytime,” the album reached stores in 2019. The following year the musicians released the four-track EP Amsterdam.